Amazing Transformation for Students

For the last little while we, the coaches at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc, have been working with some students from a school here in Kelowna.

But this isn’t like your typical school. Sure it has teenagers, who wear uniforms and leave the changeroom looking like a bomb went off when they get changed.

No this school is unique in that the students are from everywhere other than Kelowna. They are from Ontario and the prairies. From Alberta and the lower mainland. And all parts in between.

But where home is at isn’t what unites these students, in fact it actually distinguishes them. No the common denominator here is that these students have all faced some challenges in their short years on this planet. For many of them their challenge may have been substance abuse.

The other unique feature of this program is that sometimes these don’t know they are coming to this school and program. As with all children and minors there is a parent or guardian who looks out for their best interests and sometimes that involves making the decision to send them to this school.

So sometimes when these students arrive at this school, and they didn’t know they were coming here, they may be some resistance on their part regarding buying into the process. They may actually act like teenagers and rebel. Crazy, right? Teenagers that don’t want to do what what their parents, teachers or guardians want them to do.

But not only are they sometimes here reluctantly they may also have done damage to their health by the lifestyle they have been following. Healthy living, proper nutrition and exercise aren’t front of mind for these kids. And now they’ve been sent to a school they didn’t know they were going to, away from their friends, against their will. And since for some they are here against their will there is the threat of fleeing.

And then they show up at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc.

To say it is a challenge working with these students would be an understatement. Initially there is resistance to buy in to the whole process. They would prefer to not workout. And they don’t want some fitness trainer telling them all the benefits of squats and deadlifts to encourage them to try.

But for all the challenges there is to working with these students the rewards make it all worthwhile. A few of the rewards include:
* Seeing them make gains in their training. Seeing their confidence improve. Seeing them become leaders in their group.
* Watching them graduate the program. Attending their graduation and awarding them an Okanagan Peak Performance shirt for doing so.
* Having them contact us after leaving asking for training programs as well as info on getting certified in the fitness industry.

Last weeekend we did something amazing with these students. We trained them for 8 weeks and did a mud run – Mud, Sweat & Tears. This was a 10 km obstacle course with cold plunges, hill runs, burpees, cargo nets and walls to climb.

And they all did it!

This might not sound like much for the average person but when you consider the circumstances these kids were dealing with when they arrived it has been nothing short of an incredible transformation.

Think these kids don’t think they can’t succeed at anything now in school, at work or in life? Their confidence is through the rough! And they aren’t the only ones who benefitted from this experience. Our entire team at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc is better for having known and worked with these young people.